Cycling routes are rarely the shortest distance between two points. Today was a perfect example.
I began by following the Reach the Beach 100 mile route. My riding partner today was Chris, a new member of our social bike club whom I had not ridden with prior to today. I showed up on my rain bike (heavier, full fenders, buddy flaps!) he showed up on his Ridley with Zipp wheels. :-O He was about 20 years my junior and rides with Del Sharfenberg's Tuesday group, a spirited and strong group that will rip the lungs out of weaker riders. I was outclassed and knew it. As we started out I told him that not to worry if he wanted to ride faster than me, that I knew the way. ;-)
He humored me through the first 15 or so miles over the hilly first section of the RtB route. He finally dropped me on one of the longer climbs before Newberg.
When I got to Newberg, site of one of the RtB starting points/rest stop I pulled in and pedaled around the parking lot a bit to see if Chris was there waiting for me. I didn't see him so I pedaled on.
I arrived in Amity, about 50 miles into the ride, just before 9AM. This was the 50 mile route starting point and the riders were just beginning to roll out. I hadn't seen any cyclists on the road on the ride so far, but that was going to change.
Post ride I found out that there was an Amity police officer who was out to show cyclists that stop means stop in his town. Sounds like a lot of people got $317 tickets. I won't argue that if a cyclist runs a stop that they should somehow be immune to the law. I will say that I think it's poor PR on an organized ride of this magnitude for an officer to be standing in the middle of the intersection telling riders to go to the side for their ticket, when all the other towns had officers standing in the middle directing traffic to keep cars and bikes moving efficiently and safely. It's all hearsay, but I was told that the officer told riders that they had to put a foot down. If that is true, I do have an issue with that. Nowhere does the law say that a cyclist (or a vehicle driver!) needs to put a foot down on the ground to comply with the stop law.
It's probably a good thing that I was through Amity before all that erupted. I'd probably be sitting in a small town jail right now.
I continued on my way. I stopped in Sheridan at a small store for a refill on water and to buy a few snacks. I was beginning to notice a gentle headwind. I presumed it would pick up as the day wore on and was glad that I had an early start..... and glad that it likely meant a good tailwind for me on the return trip a few hours later.
I may have been dropped by my riding buddy, but the rest of the day I was the one doing the dropping. I passed bike after bike and was passed by nobody. I wasn't in race mode, but was trying to hold a pace that would allow me to get today's ride finished up before dark. I was prepared for a later than hoped for finish though. I was carrying my Stella LED light in my pack. In fairness, the others at most had only to ride 100 miles by day's end, I had a bit more so needed to go faster.
One of the prettier sections on this route, in my humble opinion, is the stretch along the Little Nestucca River. With the lush new spring growth and the full river it was just gorgeous.
It always seems odd that whatever the distance I intend to ride, when the end nears I'm ready to finish. Today was a prime example. If my goal was to reach the beach I would have been excited to reach my goal and ready to sit back and enjoy the rest of the day. Today it was just half way and I had no time for partying.
I saw Chris just as I was nearing Pacific City. He had already been there and eaten a bit and was now on his return. We stopped and chatted for just a bit then each continued on our way.
Despite plans to get the classic RtB photo with my bike overhead with Haystack Rock on the background, I just rode under the finish banner and turned right around and rode back from whence I came. A few onlookers were kind enough to point out my "error" by saying that I had turned the wrong way. I just smiled and said as I kept pedaling "Reaching Wilsonville!" ;-) I rode back to a roadside hot dog stand I had noticed on the way in and had a polish hot dog meal deal. Real food on a bike ride? Well, if you consider a hot dog real food then yes I guess so. ;-) By the time I got that all taken care of I had been in Pacific City for nearly an hour. That was longer than I had planned but still allowed me time to get back before dark.
I followed the vehicle detour back to Hwy 101 rather than backtracking the one way lane reserved for bikes. Last year I tried backtracking and it was too dangerous. A lot of the people on bikes are just zoned out after riding that distance. Even though I had my front blinkie on I had to keep yelling out "bike up" to keep from getting hit by oncoming bikes.
This plan worked well this year. I avoided the one way bike traffic and only added 2-3 miles. I picked the route back up on the Hwy 101 stretch. I turned back up the Little Nestucca River and turned on my front blinkie. With the steady stream of cyclists coming my direction vehicles were crossing the center line to get around them. The vehicles were for the most part patient and giving a lot of space, but I didn't want to leave any doubt that I was traveling the opposite direction from the rest of the bikes.
It was bit funny to see the difference in facial expressions as I made my way back through the pack. The earlier riders I passed by were all business and moving quickly.
As time progressed there were more flat bar bikes, and a lot more smiles. These folks were riding for the fun of it.
I pedaled past the Pow Wow Grounds about 3:30 PM. This was a designated food/rest stop that was about 30 miles to the finish for the RtBers. There was a sign that stated that the rest stop would close at 4PM (and was listed as such in the RtB literature) As I continued to pedal back through the stream of bikes I noticed that the folks (the phrase, "fat, dumb, and happy" comes to mind) were still all smiling and happy. I couldn't help but think to myself how the "happy" part of that description was going to leave for most of them real soon. These folks were relying on those support stations and unlike me probably weren't carrying sources of nutrition. With 30 miles to ride yet, into a wind, they were "bonks" waiting to happen.
I stopped in Willamina to get a few snacks to keep me fueled. I was beginning to enjoy a brisk tailwind. Life was good.
I was still seeing a few riders heading toward the beach. I was trying to do the arithmetic.... let's see, 40 miles to go..against the wind...making ...maybe 10 mph, it's already 4:30 PM....oh, not good.
I saw my last group of RtBers just on the east side of Sheridan. Their facial expressions told me that they knew they weren't going to make it.
It's too bad when people show up for a ride and aren't prepared for it. I can't imagine that it is too much fun having to struggle like that.
As for me I was making good forward progress:
Earlier in the day the sky was mostly cloud covered. I had just a half dozen drips hit me as I was along the Little Nestucca on the way to the beach, but no real rain. As I made my way out of Sheridan everything looked just perfect. The road was empty, the sun was shining, and I was riding quickly and effortlessly with the wind at my back.
As I neared Amity I could see a dark rain cloud to the north. I was hoping it would stay out there! As I arrived in Amity I noted that though it was dry the cars coming down Hwy 99 from the north were wet and had windshield wipers on. I pulled into a bus shelter and decided that this was a good location to attack some snacks in my pack and wait for this rain shower to pass. It never came so after about 15 minutes delay I started out again. Within less than 2 miles the roads were wet but the rain had stopped. I stopped and put my booties on since I had cotton socks on today and did not want wet feet. I also put on my Tyvek STP jacket. The brisk tailwind I had enjoyed for the last few hours had now become not as much a factor, but the road dried off and I still had a light breeze to my back. Life was pretty good.
As I neared Newberg my luck began to change. It began to rain..sort of. Big drops, few in number, began to fall. Not enough to get the road wet, but unsettling in that I kept expecting them to multiply rapidly. I kept my eyes open for places to take cover if the skies decided to open up.
I got a flat front tire just before entering Newberg. I fixed it and was back on the road pretty quickly. I was going back to Wilsonville instead of to Conestoga Middle School so this is where I deviated from the RtB route. I took the turns through Newberg to put me on Wilsonville Rd where I'd follow the north bank of the Willamette River back to Wilsonville.
Wilsonville Rd can be a bit treacherous. It's a bit curvy with poor visibility and can have a lot of traffic on it at times. I got through at a good time today. I had 9 cars pass me (in the same direction I was going) in the ~15 mile stretch. With the tree cover/shade and the cloudy dark sky I had my front blinkie on again. (my rear super flash was on all day) It continued to drip, but still the road was dry.
I arrived on the edge of Wilsonville and decided rather than to go through the construction of the freeway exchange near the new Fred Meyer that I would jog over to the North Wilsonville over pass to make my way across the freeway. As I made my turn to the frontage road suddenly the road began to get wet. I had less than 3 miles to go, I was not going to stop and wait this shower out. It didn't rain hard, but it was raining now.
In just a few minutes, with my 200 miles accomplished, I pulled into home. My Tyvek STP jacket had repelled the last few miles of rain, my feet where dry thanks to my booties, and I was happy to be finished. Remember that thing about always happy to be finished? :-)
....road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.......201..............0.............0..........0.........201
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May.........735..............0.............0..........0.........741
YTD........2775..............0............27..........7.........2808
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